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Forests
Special Issues
Forest Management Certification
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Forest Management Certification

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Economics, Policy, and Social Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2019)

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ioan Vasile Abrudan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dept Silviculture, Fac Silviculture & Forest Engn, Transilvania Univ Brasov, Sirul Beethowen St 1, 500123 Brasov, Romania
Interests: afforestation; forest management certification; forestry policy and strategy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past two decades, forest management and chain of custody certification have been among the areas with the most dynamic evolution in the in the field of forestry at a global level. According to official figures of the FAO, the two major certification schemes—the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)—reported a joined global total of 497 million hectares of certified forest in 2017, and in many countries, the majority of round-wood originates from certified forests. This figure demonstrates the importance of certification as an instrument used for the market identification of wood products originating from sustainably managed forests. Although forest certification is a voluntary mechanism, governments also play an important role in the forest certification process both as authorities setting out policies as well as regulatory and institutional frameworks, and as forest owners and buyers of wood products. Is forest certification an effective instrument for better forest management and conservation? How do the general public and the professionals consider its impact and relevance? Does forest certification really improve forest governance? Does it have a significant impact on the timber market? Is it associated with socio-economic benefits? This Special Issue aims at collecting research articles which try to find answers to such questions, evaluating how forest certification contributes to the sustainable management of forests and the development of society.

Prof. Dr. Ioan Vasile Abrudan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forest certification
  • chain of custody
  • governance
  • forest policy
  • timber market
  • public perception

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 2049 KiB  
Article
Contribution of Forest Stewardship Council Certification to Sustainable Forest Management of State Forests in Selected Southeast European Countries
by Špela Pezdevšek Malovrh, Dženan Bećirović, Bruno Marić, Jelena Nedeljković, Stjepan Posavec, Nenad Petrović and Mersudin Avdibegović
Forests 2019, 10(8), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10080648 - 1 Aug 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4980
Abstract
In recent decades, the concept of forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been widely adopted in selected Southeast European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia). As sustainability is traditionally recognised as a leading principle in the forest management [...] Read more.
In recent decades, the concept of forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been widely adopted in selected Southeast European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia). As sustainability is traditionally recognised as a leading principle in the forest management doctrine in these countries, the aim of this study was to understand whether, and how, FSC forest certification contributes to the sustainable management of state forests. The research was carried out in two phases. First, in order to assess forest management compliance with FSC standard, non-conformities for the period 2014–2018, identified in audit Public Summary Reports, were analysed in all public companies that managed state-owned forests in selected countries. Further, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the professionals responsible for forest certification in these companies were conducted (n = 11) to determine the contribution of forest certification to the economic, ecological, and social aspects of sustainable forest management. In total, 185 non-conformities were analysed. The results showed that FSC certification was successful in addressing certain problems in forest management practices and contributed to sustainable forest management, mainly covering social and ecological issues. The most frequently identified non-conformities were those related to FSC Principle 4 Community relations and worker’s rights (32.3% of all non-conformities) and Principle 6 Environmental impact (30.4% of all non-conformities). The contribution of FSC certification to sustainable forest management is mainly reflected in the following aspects: Worker’s rights; health and safety of employees; availability of appropriate personal protective equipment; consultation with local people and interest groups; awareness of environmental impacts of forestry operations; waste disposal and storage of fuel; improving the image of forest companies and maintenance of high-conservation-value forests. The majority of non-conformities were minor and required procedural changes to be closed. Moreover, there are no statistically significant differences between the countries with regard to the number of non-conformities for all principles. It can be concluded that FSC certification, as a market-driven mechanism, plays an important role by influencing forest management practices and business operations of public forest companies in a positive manner. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Management Certification)
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